A projected undersea rail tunnel connecting Helsinki and Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland and under the Baltic Sea could become a reality by 2030. 

Such a revolutionary undertaking would establish a metropolitan area between the two capitals and offer a strategic connection between the Nordic countries and Central Europe. The project is supervised by FinEst Bay Area Development and co-founded by Finnish entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka.

The aim of the tunnel is to integrate Finland into the standard European rail network that is expanding to the Baltic States via Poland and the Rail Baltica project. 

As of now, the sea route between Tallinn and Helsinki is served by high-speed passenger ships and ferries, and the journey takes between two and three hours.

Over 8 million people travel the Gulf of Finland yearly. According to FinEst,  passenger traffic on this route is expected to increase rapidly, and even 30 million by the end of the decade. The projected tunnel is aimed to make both countries able to cope with this challenge. 

The new infrastructure would shorten the travel time between the Finnish and Estonian capital to about 30 minutes.

Image: Twitter (@EstonianWorld)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen